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Macronutrients vs. Micronutrients

Hey everyone. I was recently posting on another board (shame on me) and these people were saying that it is "wrong" and "ignorant" to focus on Macro nutrients Protein/Complex Carbs/Fats. And that I need to be focusing on Micronutrients to lose weight.. like minerals/vitamins etc. Their diets almost consisted soley of things like carrot juice, fruits, spinache, broccoli, all kinds of beans, etc. THey said that I wasn't eating enough veggies and I felt like I was a failure for it. I mean should I be counting my Protein/Carbs/Fats? Or just eat a load of vitamins from veggies? That sounded so stupid to me. They said that I probably got my 40% protein/ 40% carbs/ 20% fat from a workout sight and that those sites are all lies etc. Are they right? I am very confused now.

Workout: run for 4 miles on the elliptical. On M I do biceps/triceps and run 4 miles. Tuesday I do my situps on exercise ball, 10x30 benchpresses. Wednesday I do 4 miles on ellipt and do leg machines for working out legs. Thursday I do back/shoulders. Friday I do 4 miles on elliptical.

Post workout: 2 scoops of whey protein/ 2 cups nonfat milk/ 1 banana.

Later on in the day if I'm still hungry I eat 1 cup nonfat cottage cheese.

BOTH sets of nutrients are important. Anyone who tells you to ignore one over the other is simply full of BS.

Macro nutrients are important when you're losing weight for making sure that you're getting enough protein to sustain muscle and making sure you're getting enough healthy fats to allow you to process all those micronutrients.

Micronutrients, obviously, are the components of the macros ... and you want to make sure you get sufficient quantities of those vitamins and minerals that are crucial to being healthy.

What you eat looks ok, although I'll agree that it's a bit low in veggie/fruit. You get the bulk of your veggies during your middle meal and, while there's nothing wrong with broc and cauli, you do need more variety. One of the "tricks" to making sure you get enough variety in your micronutrients is to eat as many different colors of veggies as you can. Add in some tomatoes, some carrots, some squashes, etc. Also don't be afraid to add some fruit in there - there is nothing wrong with fruit as long as you eat it in moderation.

For example, I'd suggest:
Next time you make your eggs, make an omelet and add some chopped frozen spinach and some diced tomatoes.